Wednesday, February 09, 2011

CAIRO – Thousands of state workers and impoverished Egyptians launchedstrikes and protests around the country on Wednesday over their economicwoes as anti-government activists sought to expand their campaign to oustPresident Hosni Mubarak despite warnings from the vice president thatprotests won't be tolerated much longer.

Some 8,000 protesters, mainly farmers, set barricades of flaming palmtrees in the southern province of Assiut, blocking the main highway andrailway to Cairo to complain of bread shortages. They then drove off thegovernor by pelting his van with stones. Hundreds of slum dwellers in theSuez Canal city of Port Said set fire to part of the governor'sheadquarters in anger over lack of housing.

Efforts by Vice President Omar Suleiman to open a dialogue with protestersover reforms have broken down since the weekend, with youth organizers ofthe movement deeply suspicious that he plans only superficial changes farshort of real democracy. They refuse any talks unless Mubarak steps downfirst.

Showing growing impatience with the rejection, Suleiman issued a sharpwarning that raised the prospect of a renewed crackdown. He told Egyptiannewspaper editors late Tuesday that there could be a "coup" unlessdemonstrators agree to enter negotiations. Further deepening skepticism ofhis intentions, he suggested Egypt was not ready for democracy and said agovernment-formed panel of judges, dominated by Mubarak loyalists, wouldpush ahead with recommending its own constitutional amendments to be putto a referendum.

"He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in thesquare will be smashed," said Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for acoalition of the five main youth groups behind protests in Cairo's TahrirSquare. "But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptianswho will follow us afterward."

Suleiman is creating "a disastrous scenario," Samir said. "We are strikingand we will protest and we will not negotiate until Mubarak steps down.Whoever wants to threaten us, then let them do so," he added.

Nearly 10,000 massed in Tahrir on Wednesday in the 16th day of protests.Nearby, 2,000 more blocked off parliament, several blocks away, chantingslogans for it to be dissolved. Army troops deployed in the parliamentgrounds.

For the first time, protesters were calling forcefully Wednesday for laborstrikes, despite a warning by Suleiman that calls for civil disobedienceare "very dangerous for society and we can't put up with this at all."

Click image to see photos of protests, clashes in Egypt

AP/Paul Schemm

Strikes broke out across Egypt as many companies reopened for the firsttime after closing for much of the turmoil because of curfews. Not all thestrikers were responding directly to the protesters' calls — but themovement's success and its denunciations of the increasing poverty undernearly 30 years of Mubarak's rule clearly reignited labor discontent thathas broken out frequently in recent years.

The farmers in Assiut voiced their support of the Tahrir movement,witnesses said, as did the Port Said protesters, who set up a tent camp inthe city's main Martyrs Square similar to the Cairo camp.

In Cairo, hundreds of state electricity workers stood in front of theSouth Cairo Electricity company, demanding the ouster of its director.Public transport workers at five of the city's roughly 17 garages alsocalled strikes, calling for Mubarak's overthrow, and vowed that buseswould be halted Thursday, though it was not clear if they represented theentire bus system.

Also, dozens of state museum workers demanding higher wages staged aprotest in front of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, crowding aroundantiquities chief Zahi Hawass when he came to talk to them.

Several hundred workers also demonstrated at a silk factory and a fuelcoke plant in Cairo's industrial suburb of Helwan, demanding better payand work conditions.

Two protesters were killed Tuesday when police opened fire on hundreds whoset a courthouse on fire and attacked a police station in the desert oasistown of Kharga, southwest of Cairo, in two days of rioting, securityofficials said Wednesday. The protesters are demanding the removal of asenior local police commander accused of abuse. The army was forced tosecure a number of government buildings including prisons. The officialsspoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talkto the press.

Strikes entered a second day in the city of Suez on Wednesday. Some 5,000workers at various state companies — including a textile workers, medicinebottle manufacturers, sanitation workers and a firm involved in repairsfor ships on the Suez Canal — held separate strikes and protests at theirfactories. Traffic at the Suez Canal, a vital international waterway thatis a top revenue earner for Egypt, was not affected.

"We're not getting our rights," said Ahmed Tantawi, a Public Worksemployee in Suez. He said workers provide 24-hour service and are exposedto health risks but get only an extra $1.50 a month in hardshipcompensation. He said there are employees who have worked their entirelives in the department and will retire with a salary equivalent to $200 amonth.

In Tahrir, organizers of the central anti-Mubarak demonstrations calledfor a new "protest of millions" for Friday similar to those that havedrawn the largest crowds so far. But in a change of tactic, they want tospread the protests out around different parts of Cairo instead of only indowntown Tahrir Square where a permanent sit-in is now in its second week,said Khaled Abdel-Hamid, one of the youth organizers.

A previous "protest of millions" last week drew at least a quarter-millionpeople to Tahrir — their biggest yet, along with crowds of tens ofthousands in other cities. A Tahrir rally on Tuesday rivaled that one insize, fueled by a renewed enthusiasm after the release of Wael Ghonim, aGoogle marketing manager who helped spark the unprecedented protestmovement.

Still, authorities were projecting an image of normalcy. Egypt's mostfamous tourist attraction, the Pyramids of Giza, reopened to tourists onWednesday. Tens of thousands of foreigners have fled Egypt amid the chaos,raising concerns about the economic impact of the protests. Mubarak metWednesday with a Russian envoy.

Suleiman's interview Tuesday evening was a tough warning to protestersthat their continued demonstrations would not be tolerated for a long timeand that they must get behind his program for reform. The U.S. has given astrong endorsement to Suleiman's efforts but insists it want to see realchanges. Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Suleiman on Tuesday,saying Washington wants Egypt to immediately rescind emergency laws thatgive broad powers to security forces — a key demand of the protesters.

Officials have made a series of pledges not to attack, harass or arrestthe activists in recent days. But Suleiman's comments suggested that won'tlast forever.

"We can't bear this for a long time," he said of the Tahrir protests."There must be an end to this crisis as soon as possible." He said theregime wants to resolve the crisis through dialogue, warning: "We don'twant to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."

He also warned of chaos if the situation continued, speaking of "the darkbats of the night emerging to terrorize the people." If dialogue is notsuccessful, the alternative is "that a coup happens, which would meanuncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities," he toldstate and independent newspaper editors in the round-table briefingTuesday.

Although it was not completely clear what the vice president intended inhis "coup" comment, the protesters heard it as a veiled threat to imposemartial law — which would be a dramatic escalation in the standoff.

Suleiman, a military man who was intelligence chief before being elevatedto vice president amid the crisis, tried to explain the remark by saying:

"I mean a coup of the regime against itself, or a military coup or anabsence of the system. Some force, whether its the army or police or theintelligence agency or the (opposition Muslim) Brotherhood or the youththemselves could carry out 'creative chaos' to end the regime and takepower," he said.

Suleiman, a close confident of the president, rejected any "end to theregime" including an immediate departure for Mubarak, who says he willserve out the rest of his term until September elections. Suleimanreiterated his view that Egypt is not ready for democracy.

"The culture of democracy is still far away," he said.

Over the weekend, Suleiman held a widely publicized round of talks withthe opposition — including representatives from among the protestactivists, the Muslim Brotherhood and official, government-sanctionedopposition parties, which have taken no role in the protests.

But the youth activists who participated say the session appeared to be anattempt to divide their ranks and they have said they don't trustSuleiman's promises that the regime will carry out constitutional reformsto bring greater democracy in a country Mubarak has ruled for nearly 30years with an authoritarian hand.

A committee of the various youth groups behind the protests say they willhold no talks, and the Brotherhood underlined that they too have cut offcontacts for now.

"Since our last meeting with Soleiman we have not met with him or anyoneelse from the government in either an official or nonofficial manner,"said Mohammed Mursi, a Brotherhood leader.

Suleiman indicated the government plans to push ahead with its own reformprogram even without negotiations, a move likely to do nothing to easeprotests. On Tuesday, Suleiman announced a panel of top judges and legalexperts would recommend amendments to the constitution by the end of themonth, which would then be put to a referendum.

But the panel is dominated by Mubarak loyalists, and previous referendumson amendments drawn up by the regime have been marred by vote rigging topush them through.

The head of the panel, Serry Siam, top judge on the country's highestappellate court, "represents the old regime along with its ideology andlegislation which restrict rights and freedom," said Nasser Amin, directorof the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the LegalProfession, an independent organization that works for judicialneutrality.

In one concession made in the newspaper interview, Suleiman said Mubarakwas willing to have international supervision of September elections, alongtime demand by reformers that officials have long rejected.